Post by blackcrowheart on Nov 23, 2005 10:50:48 GMT -5
Eastern Universities and Indians : Harvard University
Although Harvard University enjoys a worldwide reputation for
academic excellence, its founding purpose—to educate American Indian
youths—is little known. Drawn up in 1650, shortly after the Pilgrims
arrived in the New World, Harvard's original charter states that the
college was established for "the education of the English and Indian
youths of this country in knowledge and godliness."
In 1654, the enthusiasm for Harvard's founding purpose by the Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel Among the Indian and Others (also
known as the New England Company) led to the construction of a two-
story brick structure in Harvard Yard known as the Indian College. By
1665, however, there were no longer any Indian students at Harvard.
By the end of the seventeenth century, only eight Indian students had
attended the college, and just one, Caleb Cheeshahteamuck, had
graduated.
Because no Indian students were attending Harvard at the time, the
Indian College was used to board English youths from 1665 until 1693,
when, with the permission of the New England Company, administrators
decided to demolish the building with the provision that "in case any
Indian should hereafter be sent to the College, they should enjoy
their studies rent-free." In this way, the New England Company's
legacy of providing for Indian students persisted, although the
physical structure of the Indian College did not. Thus, in just
fifteen years after Harvard's founding there were no Indian students
attending the college, and within fifty years of Harvard's founding,
its mission to educate and Christianize Indians had nearly been
forgotten.
Little is known about Harvard's history regarding native peoples
between 1693 and the 1950s. What is clear is that Harvard's
commitment to native education lay dormant for some three hundred
years. Although the "rent-free" status of Indian students had been
forgotten, an increase in native-student enrollment occurred in the
1960s, mostly at the law school and the Graduate School of Education
(GSE). This increased Indian-student presence, and its attendant
activism, paved the way for a rebirth of Harvard's obligation to
Indian education with the founding in 1970 of the American Indian
Program at GSE. The program received a grant from the federal
government to fill the void of trained American Indian and Alaska
Native professionals in the field of education and to recruit Indian
students to GSE. The program, renamed the Harvard Native American
Program in 1991, has been instrumental in supporting Native American
students, who since its inception have earned 182 advanced degrees in
education. As of 1995, GSE had conferred 156 master's degrees, 22
certificates of advanced study, and 19 doctorates on Native Americans.
Today there is a sense that Harvard has begun to renew its commitment
to providing education to native peoples. A prominent example of this
commitment is the John F. Kennedy School of Government's Project on
American Indian Economic Development. This project's central,
continuing activities include comparative and case research and the
application of that research in services to native nations.
Furthermore, the enrollment rate of native students at Harvard is
slowly increasing. In 1995, forty undergraduates and seventy-three
graduate students at the university identified themselves as Native
Americans—0.6 percent of the total student body. These activities and
changes demonstrate that Harvard continues its struggle to fulfill
one of its original missions: the education of the native peoples of
North America.
Manley A. Begay, Jr.
Navajo
Harvard University
Although Harvard University enjoys a worldwide reputation for
academic excellence, its founding purpose—to educate American Indian
youths—is little known. Drawn up in 1650, shortly after the Pilgrims
arrived in the New World, Harvard's original charter states that the
college was established for "the education of the English and Indian
youths of this country in knowledge and godliness."
In 1654, the enthusiasm for Harvard's founding purpose by the Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel Among the Indian and Others (also
known as the New England Company) led to the construction of a two-
story brick structure in Harvard Yard known as the Indian College. By
1665, however, there were no longer any Indian students at Harvard.
By the end of the seventeenth century, only eight Indian students had
attended the college, and just one, Caleb Cheeshahteamuck, had
graduated.
Because no Indian students were attending Harvard at the time, the
Indian College was used to board English youths from 1665 until 1693,
when, with the permission of the New England Company, administrators
decided to demolish the building with the provision that "in case any
Indian should hereafter be sent to the College, they should enjoy
their studies rent-free." In this way, the New England Company's
legacy of providing for Indian students persisted, although the
physical structure of the Indian College did not. Thus, in just
fifteen years after Harvard's founding there were no Indian students
attending the college, and within fifty years of Harvard's founding,
its mission to educate and Christianize Indians had nearly been
forgotten.
Little is known about Harvard's history regarding native peoples
between 1693 and the 1950s. What is clear is that Harvard's
commitment to native education lay dormant for some three hundred
years. Although the "rent-free" status of Indian students had been
forgotten, an increase in native-student enrollment occurred in the
1960s, mostly at the law school and the Graduate School of Education
(GSE). This increased Indian-student presence, and its attendant
activism, paved the way for a rebirth of Harvard's obligation to
Indian education with the founding in 1970 of the American Indian
Program at GSE. The program received a grant from the federal
government to fill the void of trained American Indian and Alaska
Native professionals in the field of education and to recruit Indian
students to GSE. The program, renamed the Harvard Native American
Program in 1991, has been instrumental in supporting Native American
students, who since its inception have earned 182 advanced degrees in
education. As of 1995, GSE had conferred 156 master's degrees, 22
certificates of advanced study, and 19 doctorates on Native Americans.
Today there is a sense that Harvard has begun to renew its commitment
to providing education to native peoples. A prominent example of this
commitment is the John F. Kennedy School of Government's Project on
American Indian Economic Development. This project's central,
continuing activities include comparative and case research and the
application of that research in services to native nations.
Furthermore, the enrollment rate of native students at Harvard is
slowly increasing. In 1995, forty undergraduates and seventy-three
graduate students at the university identified themselves as Native
Americans—0.6 percent of the total student body. These activities and
changes demonstrate that Harvard continues its struggle to fulfill
one of its original missions: the education of the native peoples of
North America.
Manley A. Begay, Jr.
Navajo
Harvard University